Oscar Wilde once said, "Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken!" As simplistic as this phrase may be, it is the perfect summation for how we as individuals should treat our jiu jitsu. Yet, the thing most of us don't realize is you can't be yourself if you don't know yourself, and accept who you are and who you aren't. Often time in jiu-jitsu, especially when we are first starting out, we aspire to be exactly like someone...usually someone in our gym. For me, it was my first instructor, I looked at his game as the be all end all, thought he was the cream of the crop and I did all I could to emulate that game for 6 months or so. It was easy to follow someone else's path, alls I had to do was just take notes and copy. Despite my own physical attributes and gifts, I did this sort of Sylar (Heroes reference) style stealing for about two years, slowly taking on the games of all the people I looked up to whether they were world champions or just students like me. End story for now.
As the aforementioned adage states, everyone else IS already taken. Look around in your jiu-jitsu academy...not at the white or the blues, but at the purps, browns, and blacks! Most of the time you will notice each of them has a very distinct game they use, that is nothing like anyone else's game in the gym. Reason being? Jiu-Jitsu is a sport where you are free to express your individuality and use the attributes that the good Lord blessed you with no matter if you have one leg or 6 toes. The amazing thing about jiu-jitsu, is that there is something for everyone...from the athlete to the pipsqueak.
For those that disagree with me think about this, the most important reason of being yourself on the mats, is that you never compare yourself to others. This is an issue I have dealt with in the past and I know it haunts others. If you're constantly striving to be someone else in jiu-jitsu, despite knowing their situation or gifts...you will never be happy with your own game. For example, as a father, and a student I realize that it is going to take me a little longer to reach technical proficiency than others. I watch a lot of competition footage, and pay attention to a lot of the big names and sometimes I let my head get to me.
"Why can't I take the back like that?"
"Why can't my spider guard be that crispy?"
"I wish I could put my leg behind my head!"
"How come I don't have 18 patches on my gi?"
For me, this is a slippery slope to tread, and is why it is important that we know ourselves when we come into the training environment. Sometimes your little legs just won't reach the crook of someone's elbows...and maybe that back injury you had back in college, keeps you from being a Miyao triplet. When you look at others with big ol' googly eyes, not only could you harm your progression, you may even start to chase after goals you never wanted and forget why you even started training in the first place. Speaking from my experience, being something you aren't outside of the academy is always about fitting in, maybe that is the case in jiu jitsu too. But I believe, in our weird world of beating the hell out of each other...mimicking others is a way of not getting the snot kicked out of you due to incompetence. As beginners we must accept that our role as the nail, as much as it sucks, is necessary and that one day after a long and arduous journey of finding ourselves, we will become the hammer. Doing what someone else is doing only saves the ass-whippings for later, lol (Don't forget the time it took them to figure their game out and develop it). Lay down your own BJJ footprint. Thanks for reading!
-Jei
